Ann Arbor is dominated by leftist professors and college students who follow their lead. Ann Arbor's residents sometimes refer to it in a tongue-in-cheek manner as the "People's Republic of Ann Arbor." Two of its more liberal traditions are Hash Bash and the Naked Mile. Hash Bash takes place on the first Saturday in April, when thousands of liberal hippies gather in The Diag to smoke marijuana and protest for its legalization. The Naked Mile, also taking place in early April, is a tradition where students run around campus naked in celebration of the end of classes. This tradition has since been discontinued[1]

The town is known for its restaurants and football spirit on Saturdays in the fall. The population of the town, which stands at 114,000, nearly doubles during a football game due to the normal 110,000 person attendance at Michigan Stadium.

It is the county seat of Washtenaw County, and according to the 2000 Census, roughly 20% of residents speak a language other than English at home.[2]